Wireless Technology

Wireless technology has become the wave of the future. From cellular phones to wireless point of sale devices, wireless networks and technology is all around us. In order to jump on the wireless train, one must first understand the different standards. To properly and safely utilize wireless technology the user also must understand the various types of wireless security. Once grasping these technologies and standards, anyone can implement a wireless network in their home.

First, the 802.11b wireless networking standard, which is the most common consumer based standard. The 802.11b standard's frequency is in the 2.4 GHz range which is common with most cordless land line telephones and some microwave ovens. There are not really many problems with interference however because you can choose between one of 11 different channels. The speed that is supported by this standard is pretty average at 11mbps but is relatively slow compared to a 100mbps or 1000mbps that is common amongst wired networks. All of this really is not an issue as most consumer broadband internet connections are in the 4-6mbps range anyway. Most wireless hotspots, domestic wireless broadband gateways and company LANs have been using the 802.11b standard for years now but are slowly moving to stronger and faster wireless networking standards.

The 802.11a wireless networking standard is not as common as 802.11b but is still utilized in many wireless networks. Primarily used in Europe and other foreign countries, 802.11a operates at a higher frequency than 802.11b at 5 GHz and at a higher speed as well at 55mbps. There are some advantages and disadvantages however to using the 802.11a wireless networking standard. The first advantage is that it operates at a 5 GHz frequency allowing for less interference as few devices are using this frequency. A disadvantage to this standard is that it has poor performance over longer distances and speed decreases with longer distances as well.

An upgrade to 802.11b is 802.11g which offers some of the same technology as 802.11b but with significant upgrades and improvements. The most significant improvement over the 802.11b standard is the speed. 802.11g supports speeds upwards of 55mbps which is a huge increase over the 11mbps of 802.11b. This standard operates at 2.4 GHz which is the same frequency that the 802.11b standard operates at. Another great thing about the 802.11g technology is it is backwards compatible with a 802.11b wireless card so there is no need to go out and buy a new wireless network card for your computers.

Finally a brand new standard that is still in its infancy stages and still has yet to be ratified by the IEEE is 802.11n. 802.11n will be a huge step towards equality amongst wireless and wired networks. First, the standard sets a speed requirement of at least 100mbps which is common amongst most wired computer networks. It is most likely that the throughput will be in the 200mbps range with a maximum being set in the 600mbps range. Looks like the 802.11n standard will be operating at both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. Look for the final 802.11n draft out in April of 2009.

After choosing a particular standard to go with and buying the equipment to support that standard, one need to know the method of security they wish to implement on their networking equipment to maintain privacy and to prevent others from "sharing" their internet access. The different types of security come in several varieties such as WEP, WPA, WPA2 and Radius authentication. Each of these different types of security offers a little something different and varying degrees of security.

WEP, also known as Wired Equivalency Privacy is the most basic form of security on a wireless network next to no security at all. WEP has encountered tons of scrutiny, many times being referred to as the Weak Encryption Protocol. After WEP is set up it functions by encrypting the payload of the packet before it is transmitted using RC-4 (Rivest Cipher 4). After the transmission is received it is decrypted by the other station that is also using WEP which virtually means that the security is only in the transmission between the devices. In addition WEP uses only a 40 bit or 64 bit key to encrypt the data. These key lengths are very susceptible to cracking. Another vulnerability or weakness is that the keys are generally pre-shared and are static which makes it easier to crack because it is non-changing.

Another form of security over wireless networks is WPA (WI-FI Protected Access). WPA is far more secure and the most recommended security type used for consumer wireless networks. Instead of using an encryption key, it rather uses a pass phrase between 8 and 63 characters in length. In combination with the SSID, WPA uses TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) to generate a unique encryption key for each client. Because the keys are dynamically created there is less concern for cracking. WPA is infinitely superior to WEP but with any security method in use, nothing is completely secure and hack/crack proof.

Although very similar to WPA, WPA2 offers a key upgrade to WPA that offers even more